2003 SKODA FABIA wheel

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– Position the lifting jack by selecting the jacking point - lower sill - which is closest to the wheel to be removed ⇒page 201,
fig. 145 .
– Position the lifting jack below the jacking point and move it up until its claw is positioned directly below the vertical web of the
lower sill.
– Align the lifting jack so that its claw grasps the web of the lower sill and the moving base plate of the jack is resting flat
against firm ground.
– Turn the lifting jack up further until the wheel is just clear of the ground.
Ground below the lifting jack which is soft and slippery can cause the
vehicle to slip off the jack. It is therefore always necessary to place the
lifting jack on a solid surface or use a wide and stable base. Use a non-
slip base (e.g. a rubber foot mat) if the surface is smooth, such as
cobbled stones, a tiled floor,etc.
Securing wheels against being stolen*
You need a special adapter for slackening the safety
wheel bolts.
– Pull off the full wheel trim/cap from the wheel hub or cap from the safety wheel bolt.
– Push the adapter with its toothed side into the inner toothing of the safety wheel bolt right down in such a way
that only the outer hexagon is jutting out ⇒fig. 146 .
– Push the wheel wrench fully onto the adapter .
– Slacken the wheel bolt, or tighten it firmly ⇒page 201.
– Reinstall the full wheel trim/wheel cap after removing the adapter or place the cap onto the safety wheel bolt.
WARNING
•Take suitable measures to prevent the base of the lifting jack
from slipping off - risk of injury!
•Not positioning the lifting jack at the specified points can result
in damage to the vehicle. The jack can also slip off if it does not
have sufficient grip - risk of injury!.
•It is important to support the vehicle with suitable supporting
blocks if you wish to work under the lifted vehicle - risk of injury!
AAAB
Fig. 146 Safety wheel
bolt with adapter
AB
AA
AB

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– Have the tightening torque checked with a torque wrench as
soon as possible. Steel and light alloy wheels must be tight-
ened to a tightening torque of 120 Nm.
The safety wheel bolts on vehicles fitted with them (one safety wheel bolt
per wheel) can only be loosened or tighten up by using the adapter
provided.
It is meaningful to note the code number hammered into the rear side of
the adapter or the rear side of the safety wheel bolts. You can obtain a
replacement adapter from a Škoda Dealer, if necessary, by quoting this
number.
We recommend that you always carry the adapter for the wheel bolts with
you in the vehicle. It should be stowed in the vehicle tool kit.
Caution
Damage can occur to the adapter and safety wheel bolt if the safety wheel
bolt is tightened up too much.
Note
The set of safety wheel bolts can be obtained from your Skoda dealer as
an original accessory.
Jump-starting
Initial steps
You can use the battery of another vehicle for jump-starting yours if the
engine does not start because the battery on your vehicle is flat. You will
require jump-start cables for this purpose. Both batteries must have a rated voltage of 12 V. The
capacity (Ah) of the
battery supplying the power must not be significantly less than the
capacity of the discharged battery in your vehicle.
Jump-start cables
Only use jump-start cables which have an adequately large cross-section
and insulated terminal clamps. Please pay attention to the manufacturer's
instructions.
Positive cable - colour coding in the majority of cases red.
Negative cable - colour coding in the majority of cases black.
Note
•There must not be any contact between the two vehicles otherwise
current may flow as soon as the negative terminals are connected.
•The discharged battery must be properly connected to the system of
the vehicle.
•Switch off any installed telephone and also pay attention to the instruc-
tions for use of the telephone in such a situation.
•We recommend purchasing jump-start cables from a Skoda dealer as
an original accessory or from retailers who sell branded batteries.
WARNING
•A discharged battery may already freeze at temperatures just
below 0°C. It is essential to thaw out a frozen battery before you
connect the jump-start cables - risk of an explosion!
•Please pay attention to the warning instructions relating to
working in the engine compartment ⇒page 172.

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Tow-starting and towing vehicle
General
Please pay attention to the following instructions if you are going
to use a tow rope:
Driver of the towing vehicle
– Do not drive off until the tow rope is taught.
– Release the clutch particularly gently when starting off or
depress the accelerator particularly gently if your vehicle is
fitted with an automatic gearbox.
Driver of the towed vehicle
– Switch the ignition on so that the steering wheel is not blocked and you can also operate the turn signal lights, the headlight
flasher, the windscreen wipers and windscreen washer
system.
– Take the vehicle out of gear or move the selector lever into position N if your vehicle is fitted with an automatic gearbox.
– Note that the brake servo unit and power steering only operate if the engine is running. You will require significantly greater
physical force to depress the brake pedal and to steer the
vehicle if the engine is not running.
– Ensure that the tow rope is always kept taught.
Tow rope or tow bar
A tow bar is safest way of towing a vehicle and also minimizes any
shocks. You can use a tow rope only if a suitable tow bar is not available.
The tow rope must be elastic to protect the vehicle. Thus one should only
use plastic fibre rope or a rope made out of a similarly elastic material.
Only attach the tow rope to the towing eyes provided for this purpose
⇒ page 206, “Front towing eye” and ⇒page 207, “Rear towing eye”.
Driving style
Towing another vehicle requires a certain amount of practice. Both drivers
should be familiar with the particular points about towing a vehicle.
Unskilled drivers should not attempt to tow-start or tow in another vehicle.
One should be constantly vigilant not to allow impermissibly high towing
forces or jerky loadings. There is always a risk of excessive stresses and
damage resulting at the points to which you attach the tow rope or tow bar
when you attempt to tow a vehicle which is not standing on a paved road.
Caution
If the gearbox of your vehicle no longer contains any oil because of a
defect, your vehicle must only be towed in with the driven wheels raised
clear of the ground, or on a special vehicle transporter or trailer.
Note
•Please comply with any legal requirements particularly regarding the
switched on signal systems, when towing in or tow-starting another
vehicle.
•The tow rope must not be twisted as it may in certain circumstances
result in the front towing eye being unscrewed out of your vehicle.

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Front towing eye
The towing eye is stored in the box for the vehicle tool kit.
Remove the protective grille carefully as follows: – Stick a screwdriver through the bore hole of the protective
grille (near the licence plate) ⇒fig. 148 and press downwards
thereby pressing off the spring clip on the protective grille.
Grab the edge of the protective grille by the hand at the same
time (arrow ) and loosen it.
– Hold the loosened protective grille in one hand. Push the screwdriver through the second bore hole, free up the protec-
tive grille completely and remove it.
– Screw in the towing eye anticlockwise down to the stop ⇒fig. 149 and tighten up using the wheel wrench (push the
wheel wrench through eye).
– Put the protective grille in place after screwing out the towing eye again and press into place. The protective grille must
engage firmly.
Fig. 148 Front
bumper: Protective
grille
Fig. 149 Front
bumper: Installing the
towing eye
AA

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Rear towing eye
The rear towing eye is located below the rear bumper on the right
⇒fig. 150 .
Tow-starting a vehicle
The following points should be observed by the driver of the
vehicle vehicle being towed before tow-starting begins:
– Engage 2nd or 3rd gear with the vehicle stationary.
– Depress the clutch pedal fully and keep it depressed.
– Switch on the ignition.
– Wait until both vehicles are moving then release the clutch
pedal slowly. – Depress the clutch pedal fully when the engine fires and take
the vehicle out of gear.
First make an attempt to start the engine using the battery of another
vehicle if the engine does not start ⇒page 203. You can try tow-starting
the vehicle if this attempt to start the engine does not prove successful.
Towing your vehicle causes the engine to start through the motion of the
driven wheels.
Models fitted with an automatic gearbox must not be tow-started at all for
technical reasons
Caution
•Vehicles which are fitted with a catalytic converter should not be tow-
started over a distance of more than 50 metres. Unburnt fuel may get into
the catalytic converter and damage it.
•Tow-starting a vehicle is not recommended (even when observing the
guidelines outlined in this chapter) since it may, under certain circum-
stances, lead to major damage to the engine. One should attempt to start
the engine using jump start cables or call on the services of the SERVICE
mobile.
Towing in a vehicle fitted with a manual gearbox
Please refer to the notes ⇒page 205.
Fig. 150 Rear towing
eye
WARNING
There is high risk of having an accident when tow-starting a
vehicle, when for example the towed vehicle runs into the towing
vehicle.

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The car can be towed in with a tow bar or a tow rope or with the front or
rear wheels raised. The maximum towing speed is 50 km/h.
Towing of a vehicle with an automatic gearbox
Please refer to the notes ⇒page 205.
The car can be towed in with a tow bar or a tow rope. Refer at the same
time to the following guidelines:
•Move selector lever into N .
•The maximum towing speed is 50 km/h.
•The maximum permissible towing distance is 50 km. The gear oil
pump does not operate when the engine is not running and the gear would
not be adequately lubricated at higher speeds and over longer towing
distance.
If the vehicle is towed in by a recovery vehicle, the vehicle should only be
towed in with the front wheels raised. The drive shafts drive the front
wheels. The drive shafts will rotate backwards when the vehicle is raised
at the rear - that is it runs backwards. Here the planetary gears in the auto-
matic gearbox will rotate at such a high speed that the gearbox will suffer
severe damage within a short time.
Note
The vehicle must be transported on a special vehicle or trailer if it is not
possible to tow in the vehicle in the way described or if the towing distance
is greater than 50 km.

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We recommend that you carry the set of light bulbs with you which was
delivered in your vehicle. Replacement light bulbs
6) are available at
Škoda dealers.
The set of light bulbs can be stowed in the spare wheel well.
Fitted with a xenon headlight
Change of light bulbs on Xenon lights (low beam lights, parking lights and
main beam lights) should be undertaken by a Skoda dealer.
Overview of bulbs
Note
This Owner's Manual only describes the replacement of bulbs where it is
assumed that no major complications will arise. Other light bulbs should
be changed by your Škoda dealer.
6)Replacement light bulbs are, on the other hand, part of the basic equipping of the
vehicle in some countries.
Front headlightHalogen headlightXenon headlight
Low beamH7D2S
Main beamH3
Parking lightsW5W
Turn signalsPY21W
Fog lightsH3
Rear light unitBulb
Reversing lightP21W
Turn signalsPY21W
Brake lightsP21W
Parking light and rear fog lightP21/4W
Others
Side turn signal lightsWY5W
Licence plate lightC5W
3. Brake lightLED
Interior lightC10W
Reading lightsW5W
Luggage compartment lightW5W
Door warning lightW5W
Storage compartment light - front pas-
senger sideC3W
WARNING
•Bulbs H7 and H3 are pressurised and may burst when changing
the bulb - risk of injury!
•It is recommended to wear gloves and eye protection when
changing a light bulb.
•Gas discharge bulbs* (xenon bulbs) operate with a high
voltage, professional knowledge is required - danger to life!
Rear light unitBulb

Praktik
226
Fixing the loading area floor in place
It is possible, where necessary, to fixed the raised loading area
floor to a section of the tailgate using plastic hooks. One example
is a need to have access to the spare wheel.
– First unlock the floor by folding back the lever in position
⇒fig. 172 .
– Lift the loading area floor on the grip then fix at tailgate cutout using plastic hooks (located under the loading area
floor) ⇒fig. 173 .
WARNING
•The load to be transported must be fixed in place in such a way
that it cannot move during the journey and when braking.
•The left door of the loading area on vehicles fitted with Praktik
equipment for certain countries cannot be opened for safety
reasons. Never seek to open this door by force since this could
damage the door lock or the door.
Fig. 172 Securing the
loading area floor
Fig. 173 Fixing the
loading area floor in
place using plastic
hooks
A1
AA
AB